18 Jan 2003, The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, CA, USA
I have to start by talking about the opening acts. First off, why opening ACTS, in the plural? There were two groups before the Dregs, and I can't come up with a logical explanation...at least for the first group.
"Clay" is a Guitar-Bass-Drums trio out of Salt Lake City. They were more-or-less competent on their instruments, and the guitarist/singer/leader seemed passionate about his songs. But the music was not designed to appeal to the Dregs' audience. And the leader was clearly uncomfortable relating to the audience. This was a trio that has potential, but clearly was out of place and needs some work on performance.
So why was "Clay" there? It was a Salt Lake City band, so didn't sell any "regional appeal" tickets for the Coach House. The music stylings were not designed to appeal to Dregs fans. They were not advertised, and therefore were not used to sell more tickets. Why were they there? This is not a rhetorical question...I could not imagine why they were booked. I think most Dregs fans were just wanting the concert to move forward.
The second band--duo, actually--was a better fit. "Group 22", "Level 22" or something like that was a two piece with a Chapman Stick artists backed by a drummer. They were actually quite good, and much more appealing--in my opinion--to a Dregs audience that values technical excellence and compositional skill. Their only handicap was being wedged into a second place position. They played an impressive--albeit short-set, and clearly had some regional following among the audience.
The Dregs finally took the stage somewhere around 10:00 PM, and were--as always--a pleasure from the start. After the first number, Jerry was having some sort of technical difficulty, and had to move stage left to deal with problems. Steve tap danced at the microphone for a while, which was very amusing. Steve seems slightly shy in this setting, even after all these years. But his audience is highly receptive, and was amused by all his insider comments. After this and that, the other four launched into a brief semi-ad lib quasi-blues number. As soon as they finally got thumbs up from Jerry, it was back to the program.
From there...the band was totally cooking, as is just about always the case. I am not going to compare any current players to alumni, because it is all good. But the current batch of Dregs (which really dates back a decade now) is just completely hot each and every time. I think it is so cool that Jerry Goodman was chosen to fill the violin spot, having read in the past how much the Mahavishnu Orchestra influenced the Dregs' beginnings.
I have seen the Dregs six times now:
Of those, the '00 show was the least satisfying (opening act status is just nor right) and H.O.B. Orlando was just amazing. All the rest have been uniformly great. Count me in for each and every tour. It's always worth a five hour drive or a plane ticket.
Best part of the Coach House show for me was Assembly Line. It's just always a pleasure to see this band in concert.
Tom Hawley
'82 (I think) right after Mark O'Connor left, just before they disbanded. Las Vegas.
'99 Roxy, Hollywood
'00 Los Angeles (I forget the name of the venue) opening for Dream Theatre.
'01 H.O.B. Orlando
'02 H.O.B. Hollywood
'03 Coach House, San Juan Capistrano
Las Vegas, NV